Don Low Fellowships Offer Unique Training Opportunities

The veterinary hospital annually offers advanced training opportunities for veterinarians through the Don Low/CVMA Practitioner Fellowship. The program provides 20 days of in-depth continuing education (CE) in a specialty service of the fellow’s choice. The fellowship can be completed on a flexible basis, and earns the participant 72 hours of CE credits.

“The chance to spend 20 days with the Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Service was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Dr. Irene Fujishima Nakaoka. “The program is not just 20 days of observation – it’s an opportunity to be at the forefront of veterinary medicine. It was the most intense and informative continuing education opportunity I have ever experienced as a veterinarian.”

With the exponential expansion of discoveries and innovations in veterinary medicine, CE is the responsibility of every veterinary professional to keep current on the latest medical advances in diagnosis and therapy.

“The Don Low Fellowship allows a more in-depth and detailed approach to lifelong learning by immersion into a focused area of the fellow’s choosing alongside faculty, staff, and students,” said Dr. Karl Jandrey, director of the Center for Continuing Professional Education.

“I had an exceptional experience with the fellowship,” said Dr. Ryan Goupil. “It was invaluable to see some of the advanced medical treatment options like mechanical ventilation and dialysis that are not available in my practice.”

For Dr. Tom Hansen, currently completing a Don Low Fellowship with the Diagnostic Imaging Service, it has been a great opportunity for him to increase his skills in small animal abdominal ultrasound and radiology. A former UC Davis DVM student, Dr. Hansen recalls working with past Don Low Fellows while he was a student. Just as it was when he was in school, the hospital’s caseload plays a large part in the overall experience.

“One of the benefits of the program is the high and diverse caseload at the VMTH,” said Dr. Hansen. “In a single day, you can see several different types of cases and species.”

The fellowship—a joint activity between the school and the CVMA—is designed to meet practitioner needs not available within residencies or other advanced training programs. It is named after Dr. Donald G. Low (1925-2004), who served on the faculty from 1974-1991. For more information, please see www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ce.